Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing of the Income-Tax returns as well as for obtaining the Permanent Account Number (PAN).

In a big relief to people, the income tax department recently launched an online facility to correct errors (names and other details) in permanent account number (PAN) and Aadhaar. The department has put two separate hyperlinks on its e-filing website. The first option allows user to update changes in existing PAN data or for application of new PAN by an Indian or a foreign citizen. The second hyperlink will help individuals who want to update Aadhaar details by logging into 'Aadhaar Self Service Update Portal', using the unique identity number. Then, the individual can upload scanned documents as proof for data update request.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing of the Income-Tax returns as well as for obtaining the Permanent Account Number (PAN).

According to the reports of leading news agency PTI, over 1.22 crore people already have Aadhaar-linked PAN but the number is very low as there are over 25 crore PAN card holders in the country, while Aadhaar has been issued to 111 crore people. As per statistics with the tax department, only 6 crore people file income tax returns at present.

Last week, the income tax department launched a facility to enable a taxpayer to link his Aadhaar and PAN. It required a person to put in PAN and Aadhaar number along with his name as per the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) data.

After verification from the UIDAI, the linking will be confirmed. In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP will be sent to the mobile number registered with the UIDAI. Additionally, the income tax department has now launched a facility to correct anomalies in PAN or Aadhaar document.